then swing your window open

JEN, this is for you.

2011-09-20T20:11:00.000+10:00

Do you know about freecycle?
If not, I suggest you check it out. Basically, it's a worldwide network which people use to get rid of stuff which would otherwise be sent to landfill. They offer it up on the local site, and someone else (eg. Me) emails a request to them.

Anyways.
So I was off to pick up some glass bottles from a freecycle guy this evening. He'd told me to come between 6 and 8pm, number 33 C** Road, the one with no letterbox and a bus stop outside.
No problem. I got there, it was a bit hard to find, seeing as C** Road turns into B** Road (these are not actual road names, people, I'm attempting to preserve the identity of some weirdos. You'll soon see why I say that.) and the numbering of both is a little messed up due to a river crossing or two.
I digress. Yes, so I finally found 33 C** Road. Sure enough, no letterbox, bus stop out the front, and the door to the house was open, all as he'd explained. I went up, was invited in, and the first thing he says is "I was expecting a guy actually!". Nothing too strange about that, my name isn't exactly a common one.
He directed me to follow him through to the kitchen, where he opened up a bar fridge and asked me which I was after... pointing out an array of small bottles with rather suspicious looking labels. Think cheap garish party pill type stuff.
At that point I wondered briefly whether he'd dialed an escort... the "I was expecting a guy" comment did match the copious amounts of gay porn on the walls of his house. Thinking rather swiftly, I came to the conclusion that I may in fact be at the wrong address. But here he was, expecting a guy called Stuart to turn up for the bottles, and I came to the door asking for the bottles... no wonder there was confusion. And the letterbox thing. And the bus stop thing. And the open front door! Very very weird coincidence.
I beat a hasty retreat, turned my car around and went and found the right street.
(I won't even tell you about how the guy at the RIGHT house actually knew about the goings on at the other house. It's just too fuckin' weird)

xe

Doll Chiaroscuro.

2011-08-28T19:56:00.001+10:00

Doll Chiaroscuro., a photo by eroica.lurks on Flickr.

tetris for big kids

2011-08-26T11:11:00.001+10:00

2011-08-21T13:13:00.001+10:00

the old sales yards

sunday session (yes, posted late)

2011-08-15T11:42:00.001+10:00

Saturday beach outing

2011-08-13T16:42:00.002+10:00

Broccoflower

2011-08-12T14:57:00.004+10:00

2011-08-12T08:16:00.001+10:00

Foggy morning along the river.
This morning I've been playing with a couple of lenses I've been leant by a friend. I think I need to get a really wide one! New tripod is still in the box, I'm a bit scared of it.

Catch ups

2011-08-10T20:22:00.002+10:00

Oh, I have been remiss!
I so intended to post a picture each day, then I got sidetracked with work and wedding (not mine) and more work! So I shall post 7 tonight, one for each day that I've missed.

Here we are at the Palmerston North holiday park, with a lovely example of perspective lines created by these shadows. It's so green up there!

Cups! I do like a bit of repetition. Got some really good feedback when I submitted this for course last week, I recall my tutor even used the word Love in his feedback. Yippee!

I like the lighting here. Though now looking at it I think I need to crop away the frames above her.

Who can resist such a beautiful sparkling thing as this? The shadows are so pretty. I am brought to mind of an underwater creature of some sort.

Why have these not sold yet??? I'd buy them, if I liked parsnips. The lengths I got to at work to sell off a few old-ish veges... and not a bite!

Piko, sweet Piko. A new incarnation, complete with fabulous coffee out the front (thanks Greg).

Um, you what?!? This has got to be the ugliest contraption I've laid eyes on in quite some time. He is a strange man, and one who thankfully doesn't come into work too often these days!

Right, there you have it... I am caught up on my photos. I shall do better from now on!
Tell me something about your lives now.
xx ero

2011-08-03T19:59:00.001+10:00

Jeff m'love, this one is for you. Thanks for the sharing in many times of awesomeness in that lovely old mansion! I do miss it, almost as much as I miss having you living in the same place as me!
x

2011-08-02T20:32:00.000+10:00

Hurrah, Piko got stickered! Thank you, phantom stickerer. You made my day.

2011-08-01T15:39:00.000+10:00

Michelle, I am jumping on your bandwagon. One photo for each day of August, starting now. Admittedly I took this one yesterday but I think you'll let me away with it. :-)

In other news... photography course is challenging and I am determined to give it everything. This week's lesson is on composition, I have 4 photos to submit, and three days in which to do it. Yessss!

A weekend in Melbourne turned into a week due to a pesky snow storm that closed Christchurch airport, it was nice to have extra time there, and lovely to finally make it home on Friday.

x

Let the fun begin!

2011-07-16T10:09:00.001+10:00

So here I am at the start of a Diploma in Digital Photography. I'm studying very part time, just one module for now. The first week's exercise was to just go for a walk with my camera and take a whole lot of shot... and then pick 3 to send in. These are them!

These are of a motorway overpass down the road from me, interesting lines and shadows I thought. I took these in the middle of the day, bright sun and wind made for some issues! That said, I do quite like some of the subtleties in the shades of grey on the underside of the bridge.

I wasn't entirely sure how much I should be manipulating them on my computer. I've adjusted the contrast on 2 of them, but pretty much left them alone other than that.

x e

2011-05-06T09:15:00.001+10:00

we certainly do live in times of great change. some of them not so great.

one composting toilet installed in my bathroom.
one new shop underway.
one photo credit in a magazine.
one new housemate, a small black one who purrs.
one sweet man to keep me smiling.
one small obstacle to hurdle.

2011-04-17T19:03:00.001+10:00

unnecessarily miserable.
(there, i said it, now i need to get over it)

PIKO CLEAN UP (a month and a half post earthquake)

2011-04-12T18:19:00.002+10:00

reeeevolting.

2011-03-01T16:50:00.000+11:00

one week today since the earthquake that toppled my city, taking so many lives with it.
what a week it has been! exhausting and emotional and numb all at the same time.
i'm so glad to be here, and i'm so glad that my friends and family are safe.

x

SAFE

2011-02-26T10:21:00.000+11:00

i am safe, so is my family and friends too. very very lucky.
my workplace is a pile of rubble, might be time to think about a career change.

x

2011-02-13T18:06:00.000+11:00

accomplished:

a batch of laundry
a cycle adventure with the lovely parents
a batch of plum jam
a very good dinner

xe

2011-01-25T19:59:00.001+11:00

reminder to self: it's not that hard when you start DOING it.

this evening i have managed to do an hour or so of compost lugging at my new garden venture, made a healthy dinner involving lentils and seaweed (it tasted better than i expected!), and i have a loaf of bread in the oven.

i also mopped and vacuumed my kitchen floor. not so much because i'm that industrious, more because a shelf fell out of the fridge and the result was about half a dozen smashed glass bottles oozing sticky liquids!

xe

BiRTHDAY LiST

2011-01-20T11:33:00.000+11:00

a new 'niece' (one hour before my birthday started, to be fair)
an earthquake or two (big ones!)
a badge that states "no, no, that's ok. I'm interrupted by morons all the time"
a good coffee at the co-op
a shared sentence or two on an old typewriter
sweet messages from sweet friends

and the day is only half through!
x e

2010-10-19T06:11:00.000+11:00

aah spring, how i love your sunny still mornings!
i've somehow (yay!) got into the habit of awaking early, it's really nice to be up and about hours before i actually need to be. i was explaining to steve yesterday, it feels like bonus time.. anything i get done before i was even needing to be awake is total bonus, which makes me very very happy.
and there is *plenty* to do ~ the garden check alone takes a good 20mins. only one pea up so far, sigh, i wonder if the birds got them? the earth doesn't seem to be very roughed up though. perhaps i'll germinate some in water and then they'll be ready in a couple of days if the others don't show.
i'm very pleased with my new raised garden bed. made of chimney bricks, it is a wonderful marriage of recycling and aesthetics! i plan on filling it with zucchinis and pumpkins, big leafy things which like space to sprawl.
very much loving my woolston wonderland at the moment. tracey (she's back, folks) persuaded me to host a garage sale this coming saturday, which means i should really be digging out lots of stuff to get rid of, not to mention making space in the rather crowded garage (not even my stuff, damn it!).
in family news, helen and marco are nearly in melbourne. this makes me sad. not because they're close, but because they're not close enough. and i am also a little envious that helen and aeneas and damien will all be living together. i do love my christchurch life, but melbourne does still pull. especially now.
but, best i don't focus on that right now.
happy days!
xx

just up the road....

2010-09-25T18:54:00.003+10:00

too close for comfort

# Sat, Sep 25 2010 8:01 pm
# Magnitude: 4.0
# Depth: 9 km

38 Ensors Rd
Opawa, Christchurch 8023, New Zealand

Show on Google Maps

GOOD MORNiNG, SUNSHiNE

2010-09-23T05:50:00.001+10:00

awoken by a rather big aftershock (yes, still!) i am happily gazing out over my garden on a perfect spring morning. granted, it's not very warm ~ but my coffee is, and for once i feel like i've had enough sleep. it's crazy how much sleep i've been getting lately, and now little of it seems to be effective. i guess it's still the after effects of the earthquake stress, as most people i talk to seem to be in the same boat. the same suddenly rocking at random moments boat in fact.
life is slowly feeling more normal, i am no longer freaked out about being on my own ~ hooray! that said, i'm not yet game to put my pretty things back on their high shelves.
i did manage to do a HUGE batch of grapefruit and cranberry marmalade yesterday. turns out that tripling the recipe was perhaps a little too keen. it's a real bugger when you realise half way through that you're going to need to transfer half of the scaldingly hot gloop into another pot. aah, but the satisfaction of having 24 jars of marmalade lined up on the bench makes it worth while.
in garden news, i finally managed to get things in the ground last sunday. four feijoa bushes, a blackcurrant, a lemon, and three cranberries. feels good. it was particularly awesome to have steve's input, and by input i mean digging. yay steve! this weekend i plan on going to a couple of markets and drinking fancy wine and eating fancy cheese with claire, looking forward to that!
hope all is well in your worlds, blogfolks.
xxx

WHO SAYS IT'S NOT AS BAD AS THEY SAY??

2010-09-13T07:33:00.000+10:00

i'm writing this at the kitchen table. and do you know what that means, blogfolks?
yes that's right, i'm finally wifi-ed. thanks to my mac techie jeff for setting it up, i was entirely bamboozled.
in other news, the tremors are still enough to scare me. there's this moment when every nerve is on high alert, until you feel the tremor subside. not much fun at all. though luckily i am calming down, that constant anxiety is hard to live with.
i'm really hoping that big aftershock they keep talking about doesn't eventuate. interesting that many people around the country are suggesting that this quake is being sensationalised, and isn't really as bad as it's made out to be. try living here, fuckwits! there is, as i write, a crane pulling down a section of my workplace. and we were lucky the damage wasn't more extensive.
don't get me started on the liquifaction in bexley, those poor sods have houses that are subsiding into the mud, and the land is probably unable to be built on again. more and more cracks are appearing in our houses, our chimneys are in piles on the ground (it's still bloody cold here too!) and i have friends with kids who are totally traumatised by every tremor.
so, darlings, it is as bad as it's made out to be. but that said, we are fine, we are alive and we'll be swapping horror stories for years to come.

2010-09-05T07:57:00.001+10:00

i wish i knew some relevant biblical quote to start this post.
something about the earth heaving and all will be smiteth, you know what i mean.

so yes, there was an earthquake.
a big fuckin' earthquake, the sort of earthquake you see on tv.
it was 7.1 on the richter scale, and the centre was only 30km away and a measly 10km deep. now *that's* an earthquake.
i woke up to a shuddering house, leapt out of bed and threw myself under the doorway where i had a fabulous view of the rather heavy bookcase in the hallway swaying back and forth and spewing it's contents onto the floor in front of me. the noise was phenomenal, end of the world type stuff. i didn't know if anyone else was home, and for a few moments there thought that it might be curtains closed, the quake seemed to go on for such a long time and everything was crashing down around me.
luckily when it was safe to stand up i could see the van outside, which meant that matt was home at least. turns out he was outside wondering if he'd have to smash a window to get me out of the bedroom! so we huddled in the garden feeling the aftershocks, and watching the lights on the hill go out suburb by suburb. we made a couple of very quick forays into the house for warmer clothes and boots and cellphones. it was really frightening being inside the house, not knowing whether another big one was going to hit. the first thing i did when i got back outside was fire a text off to jeff, i figured it was a good idea to get one out of the country just in case! crazy what our minds do in a crisis.
i was worried then that we'd just caught the tail end of something bigger based in wellington (that's the quake we've all been waiting for), but luckily we still had power and a few minutes later there was a report on the radio that it was based near christchurch - which, believe it or not, was a relief!
i couldn't get hold of mum and dad on any of their phones, but wasn't too worried as the networks were overloaded and they don't tend to keep their cellphones on them anyway. eventually i got through, they'd lost power and a brick chimney. so when it seemed safe enough (how does one even try to gauge that?!) we drove over with a kettle of water for cups of tea in the dark. what fun and larks!
day broke an hour or so later, and then we were off to check on our shops. surprisingly the damage was minimal. plenty of smashed bottles and jars on the floor at piko, but no real damage to the building other than a few more cracks in the plaster (thank god we got it earthquake strengthened to the tune of a few hundred thousand dollars a few years back, we'd be sifting through a pile of rubble otherwise) so after a clean up for a couple of hours, we figured it was time to go have a look at the central city. we'd heard that a lot of it was cordoned off, so it was a walking mission. unbelievable! there are buildings missing whole sides, groups of shops crumpled on the ground, broken windows everywhere and a few squashed cars... my sister's included. we'd picked her up earlier, her house is unlivable and her car is a total write off due to a load of bricks falling on it.
there was this weird post-apocalyptic feel in the air, though sort of exciting and cheery at the same time, probably due to the ridiculously beautiful day that was unfolding [oh fuck, that was quite a big aftershock]. we were so lucky to have a sunny day, it would have been horrendous if people were also getting cold and wet and hyperthermic. there is definitely a lot to be thankful for, for one that it was during the quietest part of the night and most people were safe(ish) at home.
after the town mission i made my way up the hill to check on jeff's parents as he hadn't heard from them. all good there, they were in fine form and offered me cups of coffee and a tour of the garden - i've promised i'll go back one day soon for that! then it was down the hill for a debriefing with my family, over a bowl of hot soup. not bad at all.
after a few hours of talking and tidying i finally made it home to see the state of my little house. structurally intact, and plenty of material for mosaicing. i'm a little sad to have lost so many of my favourite pieces of handmade crockery, but it's such a small price to pay really.
sleep was a long time coming, we left the radio and a lamp on, and i do admit i put a change of clothes in a bag beside the door. but here i am this morning, safe and well other than a banging headache and a bruised toe. didn't get too much sleep last night, and the aftershocks are still scary, but at least the worst is over!
take care, blogfriends.
x e

2010-09-04T05:13:00.001+10:00

fuck ME that was an earthquake.

NEWtown

2010-08-18T23:23:00.001+10:00

new discoveries:
(late to the game, as usual)

*scott pilgrim
*dan savage
*writersblok (move aside, moleskine! actually don't move aside, just become a little more affordable)

wickedness!
i am loving this shot of city life, it makes me wonder why i don't live here. maybe i will one of these years. having the company of my man friday for a few days of lurking is super cool, yay for that! loving it.

MAKE LiKE HOUDiNi ...and

2010-08-13T06:40:00.000+10:00

ESCAPE!

Sydney today, Broken Hill tomorrow.

most annoying thing about packing: finding chargers! phone, camera, ipod...

x

THiNGS i'M EXCiTED ABOUT

2010-07-20T06:41:00.002+10:00

sydney and broken hill in a month.. escape! dry desert air!

m. ward and belle and sebastian

g's new venture

helen trying to figure out residency for marco (take that, italy)

slow-cooker soups and houseguests who make them!

xx

ADMiSSiONS

2010-07-01T06:23:00.002+10:00

so a couple of weeks ago i made my first foray into the world of online bookshopping. i've been thus far avoiding it, in the knowledge that it is a slippery slippery slope!! far too much temptation. however, sometimes books just aren't available anywhere in new zealand, and the cost of getting a shop to special order them is just too much!
i am still a fan of buying local and supporting small business.. of course.. but i decided to cut myself some slack and just buy the three books i really wanted!
i've been holding off telling you about them, but now i can (fb knows why). the first one....
from eroica with love, vol.1 ~ yes, really! this is a very bizarre series of manga, the central character being this blond gay chap by the name of eroica. all the girls swoon over him. i admit i have only read the first couple of pages.. it's cringeworthy!
the next book was "rotisserie chook or the founding fathers" by jessica hagy, from her awesome website indexed. it's 30 postcards, all of them awesomely cool graphs of various types.
finally, the buy that really made my day.... "ZOMBIE HAIKU"!!! two of my favourite things united at last. it is wicked. probably in both senses of that word. i opened this package on the bus one day, within about 5 pages i was laughing so hard that i had to put the book away, and hide my face in my hands because people were starting to look alarmed. i never had much of a thing about zombies until quite recently. of course "shawn of the dead" was an awesome movie, but that still didn't turn me. i'm not quite sure what did actually, though i'm sure fishboy had a lot to do with it. his influence is strong, many a time i've been pulled to the dark(er) side by that one. anyhoo... definitely happy to have received this brilliant book in the post!
sometimes at work i pretend that i'm a zombie, i've discovered that just pretending inside my head is enough to bring a smile to my face... so customers think i'm nice when actually i am imagining ripping them limb from limb and devouring their mushy organic brains. oooh, have i said too much?
in other news, i'm listening to the national for the first time, loving it so far, thanks ray and claire for another good recommendation.

xx

THE iMPORTANCE OF BEiNG iNTERESTiNG

2010-06-25T07:56:00.004+10:00

i had a good chat with my friend ariel a couple of days ago, about how good 'we' are at avoiding doing the things which are actually important.
we deem silly things like laundry and and tidying to be important, somehow making time to do those things... and yet, at the end of the day we haven't really spent any time on the things that we tell ourselves are the most important!
like, when someone asks what's important to me in my life i will come up with things like making art, crafting, gardening, blogging, walking in nature...
and when do i actually do these things??? i tell myself i don't have time, there is too much daily grind to get through! what the hell? it's so easy to push those 'nice' things aside as being less important than keeping the house tidy. 'we' must be mad, surely.
so i am once again reminding myself that those other things are not to be ignored... i come to this conclusion periodically... and i intend to do something about it!
i have started playing around over at listography, i think it's time to write some real to-do lists.

2010-06-11T07:35:00.001+10:00

dear blog friends,

i love you. please give yourselves a hug from me.

yours sporadically,

eroica

x

PUBLIC HOLIDAY MONDAY

2010-06-07T07:54:00.003+10:00

genius playlists make my monday a happy place.
i am halfway finished jeff's very late birthday present.
i have a pile of clothes for the salvation army.
coffee number 3 is being planned.
leonard cohen tickets are purchased (yes!!).
it's still raining.
i am loving indexed.

x

2010-04-13T14:00:00.002+10:00

hello blog-loves.
update time.

firstly, and very importantly, my hands are on the mend. give it a few more days and they'll be good as new. this is an immense relief! it got to the point where i just stopped coping, which of course was over easter when medical facilities were shutburgers.

today i am sick with other ails, aah it's so much fun being me! lack of sleep has triggered shivers and aches and nausea and dizziness, i don't think catching up on sleep will salvage me anymore.

yesterday i spend 8 hours at the polytech learning about the sale of liquor act, in a bid to apply for my duty manager certificate. it was painful. not so much because it was dull (it had it's moments) but more because i find it so damn upsetting that we have this utterly abhorrent drinking culture in our country. it really bugs me. according to one economist's study, in 2004 kiwi taxpayers spend a whopping $11 billion on alcohol related issues. this is not ok! what is wrong with 'us' that we feel the need to get shitfaced to the extent that we cause more damage than you can even really imagine? i mean, $11 billion!!! i have to stop writing about it, i'm getting knotted up again.

in other news, helen and marco are mere days from leaving. currently they're holidaying in golden bay, so i am housemateless. i hate that they are leaving! i miss helen already, and she's only been gone a day. for sisters who used to swap bites for kicks, we now get on very well and i happily consider her my friend as well as little sis. it'll be hard being without her again. thank the gods for such wondrous technologies as skype.

my friend matt may move in, which would be an easy way to solve my housemate issues. for although i like the idea of a few weeks on my own, more than that will just get difficult in the money department. and i have a raft of money-sucking thing to attend to, such as renewing my passport and planning a trip to sydney for late winter. man, i hope that can happen! definitely been too long since i was there. i can't think of a better way to spend a few days than wandering newtown with the esteemable jeffmeister (love you). my friend nik lives there now as well, which means another very good reason to visit old sydney town.

i had the lovely j&m to stay last week, lucky me! they made super first houseguests, and justin and i had plenty of opportunities to talk art and craft and bounce ideas off each other. we also managed to fit in a lengthy breakfast and cribbage session at the addington coffee co-op, a la last winter. definitely a sweet weekend.

now, back to my sage-oliveleaf-ginger-lemon-honey tea and perhaps a page or two of shantaram (i'm over halfway through now).

love to you blogfolk
xxx

2010-04-04T07:53:00.002+10:00

my hands are wrecked.
there is nothing, NOTHING, ok about this. it is the most demoralising depressing thing. i can't do the simplest things, and it is driving me fucking crazy.
FUUUUUUUCK.
rant over.

ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART

2010-03-17T16:22:00.004+11:00

so said neil young

i am not heartbroken, but i am heartsore.
i made a decision today which feels like the right one, even if it's a bit shit. and sad. but you know, i'm all about the simplicity and happiness and i think i'm on the right road. i feel like making this decision is a step in the right direction, a step towards being the best person i can be. god that sounds awful, but that is cynical me talking, and didn't i say something about casting cynical eroica aside for a while?
this is all good learning. many a challenge, as if i could expect otherwise. life is a bitch! but a beautiful sweet bitch.
someone tell me to shut up?

x e

A NEW WEEK

2010-03-15T07:53:00.002+11:00

last week was shit, for various reasons that i don't intend to divulge.
this week shall be a much better one! i am determined to make it so. it's off to a good start... a sunny morning, i don't have to be at work till lunch time, and i have tentative dinner plans with the darling gregstar this evening.
right, blogfolk, i'm off to read shanataram for a bit.
xx love

The Wiggles ~ You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

2010-03-08T19:41:00.001+11:00

i don't care what you say, there is nothing wrong with this video!
in fact, on a shitty day, it's about the only thing to bring a smile
hehe.

2010-03-02T17:04:00.001+11:00

blogpeeps, it's going very well.
<3

2010-02-25T19:42:00.001+11:00

.. and then when we parted company, he kissed me. just a peck, but it was on the lips. so, for someone so shy, i think i can take that as a sign he really is interested in more than the sweet friendship we already have going.

2010-02-24T13:53:00.001+11:00

i have no appetite and mild insomnia.
this can mean only one thing, blogpeeps.
yes, i am crushing.

*freaking out freaking out freaking out*

it's been a while.
x

summer delights

2010-02-22T17:19:00.001+11:00

late night adventures leave me over tired but smiling.
it was the most eerie night in new brighton. thick thick mist, and so very still. i've never before walked down the pier without getting windswept! standing at the end, staring out at a wall of solid air was very disconcerting. such a fitting end to a beautiful day.

and haiku for greg:

summer happiness!
the sun is setting pinkly
in woolston tonight

x

2010-02-20T10:47:00.001+11:00

sunny saturday, no work for me
lyttelton for coffee and market
then home for lunch with sis
and my new nephew
shit, he's cute.

2010-02-19T09:38:00.002+11:00

"Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that."

so said michael leunig.

2010-02-16T19:45:00.002+11:00

much relief in saying things aloud,
this note brought on by a conversation in which something that had never been spoken of, well.. was. and i didn't realise it'd be such a relief to have it said, it was never a big deal, but the smile that broke across my face unbidden must mean that at some level it had been bugging me!
i also told a friend that i love him, and that felt good too. even if he thinks i'm a weirdo. actually he knows that. i'm all about the honesty, blogpeeps.
honestly, i love that you're reading this.
*smooch*

2010-02-12T21:17:00.000+11:00

bugger this, i'm off to hinewai.
:-)

2010-02-06T08:21:00.002+11:00

finding joy in gardening, in catching up with old friends (three cheers for skype! even if the omani version is a bit shit), in planning waitangi day outings.
and tomorrow i get to meet my new nephew!

2010-02-05T17:19:00.003+11:00

well i think i did a fairly good job of being diplomatic in my awkward meeting today. no tears, which is a good start. and hopefully changes will be made, and everyone will be smiling again.
i'm very happy to be finished work for the week! and happier still that there is lots of good stuff going on tomorrow. it's waitangi day, and i plan on checking out a latin american festival in the square, and perhaps a bit of good music at the art gallery too. fingers crossed this sweet weather holds!

2010-02-03T20:24:00.003+11:00

it's all about the joy, baby!
seeking it out.
today's joy was a cupcake with karen (belated birthday cupcake), collecting seeds from my garden (sage, rocket, radish), eating one bright red cherry tomato, and listening to jens lekman turned up loud on the way home.
(in other news, i had a slightly unpleasant work meeting tonight, and now i have to have a rather awkward conversation with a workmate.)

2010-02-02T20:18:00.002+11:00

no more haloscan.. all old comments lost!
the sentimental hoarder in me is smarting.
but pretty red and green lifts my spirits a little.

i have decided to seek out joy. i'll let you know how that works out for me! so far so good, i am feeling positive about this feeling positive thing.

SUNDAY SUN DAY

2010-01-31T15:52:00.002+11:00

i have just been informed that it's HOT in invercargill. what the hell!
why am i in shitty cold christchurch when i could be living it up in a tshirt in a town far closer to antarctica? that is just so damn wrong. the fact that i am irrationally angry about it really does speak volumes about what a lack of vitamin D does for one's mood. summer is not meant to be a time of angry shivering, yet this is what i have been reduced to. i know it is fruitless to be angry at the weather, and yet i (and many other chch'ers) just can't seem to help it this summer. i feel like i've been thoroughly ripped off! three weeks into my new house, and i am already planning on moving to australia, and not only for the money. climate is a big part of it too.
ok, rant over. today is actually beautiful. the wind is cold, but the sunshine makes up for it. i've had a lovely day, starting with coffee down the road and then a leisurely bike ride over to the local market for a couple of bargains. then back home to ready the house for more visitors. the sunday craft sessions continue! i spent it going through a box of old paintings, very entertaining. i painted a lot of shit, some of it is probably even recorded on here. though i did find a very cool fish drawing in pastel, which will make a good gift for the hazelnut.
now i am very much enjoying some time alone at home, listening to new music recommended by darling mr. fish (la roux, mumford & sons, lykke li) and planning a craft project i have in the works.
tonight i'm off to see polka dot dot dot and jens lekman at the wunderbar. must make the most of these opportunities, although my natural leaning is towards hermitude. i'm sure the gig will be brilliant though, so the money time drive people will be worth it. haha, such enthusiasm!
ok love you bye
xx

house blog over this way...

2010-01-22T19:28:00.003+11:00

click my pretty green link to be taken to the woolston wonderland that is my new blog. it doesn't mean i'll cast this one aside though... i have issues with letting go...
hey, you read my blog, you probably already know that about me.

:-) i hope you are happy, blogfriends.

love from me.

87

2010-01-21T08:11:00.001+11:00

i have a house now. it is very pretty, with clean walls and wooden floors. and a big big garden.

3 RANDOM THiNGS i'VE DONE LATELY

2009-12-14T08:12:00.003+11:00

*organised a craft market, which went surprisingly smoothly.

*watched the time travellers wife, and though i didn't love it, it was pretty alright. better than expected, but then i did have very low expectations.

*bought my first house! it's oh so sweet and i get possession in a little under a month.

2009-10-10T17:04:00.002+11:00

shiiiiiit.
i just had a head-fuck moment when i realised that i was almost a grandmother.
crikey. *shudder*

2009-10-05T08:33:00.004+11:00

hello blogpeeps
i have neglected you again. life is pleasantly busy these days! lots of socialising. a fair amount of working. days off tend to fill up very quickly! and no way am i complaining.
the sunday craft sessions are still going strong, it's become more of a knitting circle as that seems to be the craft of choice these days. i am still very tentative, and find knitting recipes quite hard to decipher. but it's so good to have a group to do it with!
crafty J is in town at the moment, yesterday we spent a lovely afternoon taking photos of peeling paint and the likes, followed by pizza at the dux (yum!) and 4 episodes of Spaced which is my new favourite thing. well new favourite tv show at least.
in other new favourites:
**roller derby!** such an awesome spectator sport. i first went in melbourne, and then in chch a couple of weeks ago. best sport ever. chicks in fishnets belting each other... weeeeeeeee! sadly i have zero sense of balance, so i shan't be trying it out myself. i will stick to cheering from the bleachers. from a photography perspective, it's really hard to get good shots. way too fast, every photo i took is a blur.
peppy, my golden wagon of happiness, is back on the road. this pleases me. i shall not think about the monetary cost of getting peppy back in action, suffice to say that i am feeling a little broke at the moment. and i still need to get the timing chain replaced, whatever that means. i hope it means less racket from the general engine area. so it must be time to plan a few trips! at least as far as kaikoura to pick up sis&boy in a couple of weeks. and then perhaps a trip to visit J and M in motueka in the next couple of months, i am so looking forward to sleeping in the van again!
in other news, i am growing tomatoes from seed, a variety called Tigerella (they're striped!). so far most of my seeds have come up, but are looking very spindly. i plan on having a somewhat portable garden this season, lots of veges in pots so that i can take them with me when i move house at the end of november. perhaps i could start a dashboard herb garden in peppy. there is plenty of space where cactus jack used to live.. *sniff*
(van got stolen, found it, minus my darling dashboard cowboy cactus jack. and they took my builders tape measure and gas cooker too.)
ok, gotta scoot, time to get on with this day!
smooooches to you lot
xx

2009-08-07T08:59:00.002+10:00

it's springy.
the sun is shining (!) and has actual warmth in it (!) and people are smiling again!
phew. i intend to make the most of it before the next cold snap. some people call me a pessimist when i say that... but i consider myself more of a realist. it's the same every year, some beautiful warm days and the blossom comes out and the sheepies start dropping lambs all over the sunny green paddocks. then, low and behold, a cold snap. pictures of dead lambs on all the newspapers' front pages.
mark my words.
;-)

in other news, i am back at the opawa house again. for 4ish months, it's a doable timeframe. i shall do my best to be a sweet and lovely daughter, it certainly helps having a moving-out date in mind already! so, this is a grand opportunity to save as much money as i can for my northern hemisphere adventure next year.
but i won't be saving money when i'm frollicking in melbourne in a couple of weeks. yippeee! am very very much looking forward to seeing my melbourne amigos, and immersing myself in big city life for a few days.
for now though it's off to work for me, i have herb teas to pack.
with love,
e

COMMENTY LOVE

2009-07-16T07:54:00.003+10:00

my friend corrina directed me over to an interesting blogpost by a man named mark... have a read
it really is funny how a lack of comments really affects my desire to post on this here blogski! because surely blogging isn't about what you get back, right?
wrong. of course it is. i am here for some sort of human contact, as strange as that seems. yes, i write about myself. yes it's a place for me to just dribble whatever is on my mind into a blank box. but it's also somewhere where i feel at home, and i like to invite friends into my home!
i've made some good friends through blogging. i've read some inspiring things too. and once in a while i've managed to upset someone, which makes me more cautious than i'd like to be!

in keeping with the spirit of letting y'all in, i'll do a ramble!

life at the moment. it's good. i am managing fairly well to keep the winter blues at bay. and am REALLY remembering why i swore i wouldn't have another christchurch winter for a few years. well so much for that! though i did manage to miss two while in australia.
i have discovered some great ways of keeping happy and entertained this winter! cribbage is one. yes, that old card game that your grandpa played. it's so.much.fun. and it involves basic mathematical brain usage, so it's good for me! hooray! i've taken to playing cribbage on sunday afternoons with a bunch of friends from work, usually at our favourite coffee joint, the addington coffee co-op. and after a game of crib, we scurry off to someone's house and we craft! yes! knitting and sewing and darning and scrawling. it's such a brilliantly happy-making habit to get into. at last! i've wanted to get this sort of thing happening for so long, it's just GREAT to finally be doing it. my crafty friend J is moving away from here, so there is even talk of having internet craft sessions. so high tech! ;-)
in other news, i am about to move out of my ever so lovely house. the reason being that my ever so lovely flatmates are about to have a baby! exciting times indeed, i am sad to be leaving this beautiful place but very happy to be making room for the newest member of the clan.
i'm going to stay at the parents' for a few months, with the plan of moving into another house in december. i need that plan, or i'd go crazy being back with ma and pa. and it's really handy that they're away when i move in, so i'll have the house to myself for a couple of weeks. i'm also looking forward to going to melbourne for a few days next month. bit of a girls' trip, with the added bonus of sorting out the stuff i have stored over there. yay for seeing my melbourne friends and my brothers and drinking lots of coffee at degraves espresso and ray and retro.
right, i'm going to wrap this up now. that coffee really got my fingers going...
big love to you, dear readers.
feel free to leave a comment...
(now that you know how much i crave them)

xe

2009-06-10T06:32:00.002+10:00

i'm outta here like a bald man!

yup, off to the big smoke of fielding for fun and games with lisa and the girls. oh yeah, and that pesky market too.
lots of fun stuff is going on in my world at the moment, a documentary about piko for example! and yes, i will be in it. eek! the interview was nerve wracking and i'm sure i came across as an utter twit. aah well, such is life!
went to a film called Vivere last night, a german one in the Outtakes queer film festival that's on here at the moment. the company was better than the film.
ok airport shuttle is here.. must scamper!

till next time
xxx

2009-05-24T08:44:00.002+10:00

every blog i look at was updated yesterday!
what is with you people? how do you manage it?
i am in awe and also grumbly.

i've got a great sunday lined up, coffee and cribbage (the new winter addiction!) at the addington coffee co-op (brilliant cafe with good tunes and couches and a stick-around feel) followed by a craft session accompanied by mulled wine. not bad eh.
craft is the word of the minute... so much to do, so little time! i am going up north to visit lisa and do a craft market, and as yet i have verrrry little prepared.
lucky for me i have lots of friends who are gently pushing me along, haha, because my stress levels are such that they are almost immobilising.
why don't i learn?

in other news, i am planning a northern hemisphere adventure for next year. a couple of months of real holiday, and lots of visiting of friends!

xx

TAKiNG STOCK

2009-05-22T19:19:00.002+10:00

you know what sucks?

cracked fingertips so sore it makes every little task an ordeal

some bastard driving into the back of your van and not leaving even a note

overlockers and sewing machines

on the brighter side, the dux does great nachos and i have plenty of lovely workmates to enjoy a friday evening ginger tom with.
and tomorrow, though a long day at work, is the last day of my week and then i get to breeeathe. yay!

yup, the good still outweighs the bad.

x

PERFECT SATURDAY

2009-04-25T22:05:00.006+10:00

Coffee and morning chats with Ra, followed by a drive to Sumner with the lovely Karen for foods and drinks and looks at pretty things.

I got a present!

A beautiful beautiful notebook of gorgeousness. Yes, the picture is backwards, I took it using PhotoBooth as I am too lazy to do it properly, hooking the camera up again is beyond my capability right now!

Then I came home and made feijoa chutney with Marce, it smelled so good and it was easy enough to make and our jars sealed just fine. Yum!

T'was then time for dinner with Ra and Megs, another Allard St feast, followed by a happy hour or so piecing bits together in my visual diary.

Must be bed time now!
xx

SOME DELiCiOUS MOMENTS FROM MY PHOTOGRAPHY ADVENTURE TODAY.

2009-04-20T19:23:00.003+10:00

2009-04-20T07:27:00.002+10:00

packing a camera or two
packing a picnic
checking oil and water
filling up with fuel

it's photography adventure time!

i'm heading out into the wilds with my friend tania, who is doing a photography course. i bagsed the postion of chief photography buddy... which she doesn't mind, as it also means chief chauffeur! i am just looking forward to getting out of town for a few hours, even if i don't get any shots i'm stoked with.

x

Love and Be Loved

2009-04-18T15:12:00.001+10:00

have i mentioned recently how much i love michael leunig's work?

2009-04-16T18:28:00.001+10:00

so much treasure!
today: a little cardboard suitcase filled with plastic cereal box planes.
any creative cats out there want to suggest what i could do with them?
x

2009-04-14T15:33:00.001+10:00

Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain

little black duck all alone

iNTERFERENCE

2009-03-29T16:55:00.002+11:00

life interferes with art, the past interferes with the heart, she interferes with me.
addiction creeps up slowly, surely. suddenly i am gasping, out of water, craving and wishing... disintegrating...
turquoise ink and bright words combat the sinking, but only for a short while. driving is next. movement, quick glimpses of other places and other lives, the soft haze that speed lends to edges and foregrounds.

2009-03-09T12:23:00.002+11:00

i've decided (perhaps rashly) to have a bash at shift.org's 26 things.

The list is now up for the 26 Things March 2009 hunt!

1. sound
2. press
3. turn
4. label
5 . wheels
6. silence
7. new
8 . old
9. list
10. creep
11. stand off
12. admiration
13. mess
14. always
15. half
16. strings
17. hallway
18. grand
19. graffiti
20. juicy
21. instrument
22. logo
23. on the horizon
24. yawn
25. bump
26. macro

wish me luck!

Foreign Ambulance Sirens

2009-01-15T19:31:00.001+11:00

i heart bill bailey.
what's not to love?

yeah, i have pretty much given up writing real blog posts...

i HEART JUNO!

2009-01-07T21:37:00.001+11:00

totally my new favourite film.

2008-12-19T08:13:00.002+11:00

http://bushbash.flashgressive.de/

do it!

2008-11-19T18:46:00.002+11:00

pictures of carlene and joe's new daughter, hazel may, make me smile. another starchild in my life.

i'm going home at the end of the month, weather permitting. mixed feelings about leaving this desert home of mine. it will be so good to be back on kiwi soil again, this time for more than a couple of weeks. it will be sad though to leave behind the special people in my life here.

you know, i sat down all prepared to write a decent post after such a long absense... and it seems that i have forgotten how. it's hard to know what to write about when so much has happened since i last posted, infact so much has happened in the last year and a half that i haven't spoken of here. maybe i need to start afresh with a new blog? maybe i need to just get over it and write whatever, rather than trying to fill in the large gap.

2008-08-26T13:02:00.003+10:00

home in the land of soft rain, grey skies, black ducks.

my grandmother passed away last week, so i've been doing the funeral thing and all that goes with it.

it's been nice to spend time with family, without the hectic rushing around that usually comes with these short visits to the homeland.

back to australia on friday, for another two months in the dust.

x

EROiCA iS:

2008-08-11T15:04:00.002+10:00

still in tibooburra
still working 2 jobs
still enjoying it

making new friends
making plans
making coffees

going home in october
going a little mad
going it alone

x

2008-07-01T18:17:00.002+10:00

blogger is fucking me around.
but i am alive.

x

2008-05-04T20:27:00.004+10:00

hello!
it's been many a day since i last wrote on here, somebody slap me.
life's been busy, i've started a 2nd job which means i have some late nights followed by early starts. i've been filling my days with ease, and wishing that i had more time to read books and lap up the autumn sunshine! the afternoons are so beautiful at the moment, perfect for leisurely persuits. i took the photo a few mornings ago when i left for work, the sky was amazing!
i worked last night, at the pub, we were much busier than expected. the chef, who had the night off, couldn't help but worry that "the girls" weren't coping. we were though, and 32 meals later i was happy to escape the pub and head down the road for a glass of crisp white wine in front of a warm fire with the company of a good friend and basil and sybil fawlty. (yeah, fawlty towers was on. the one where the builders take out the wrong door. love it.) reeeelaxing at last. it was so hard to tear myself away from that fire and head out into the cold for the 5 minute walk home.
an early start again today, the alarm went off and i could've cried. the mornings are cold now, so shivery and bleary eyed i made my way to work for my 12th day running. i'll look on the bright side and admit that there is plenty to like in my job, particularely the company of a few of the locals who tend to come in for a coffee and a chat. word has got around that i make a decent cup of coffee, as opposed to the insipid over-hot brews that the others throw together! my bosses' older son (he's 6) is a good one for keeping me entertained with his daily demonstrations of love for his dad: climb up on the chair, check there's water in the kettle, generally tell me how much water is in the kettle, put it on and watch it for a while before loading a cup with a bit of coffee and lots of sugar, then "eroica, the milk goes in BEFORE the water, right?", and before long he has a ghastly looking brew ready for his dad which he then asks me to carry out so he doesn't spill it! it really is quite sweet, and one of these days i might even succeed in training him to clean up the inevitable mess of coffee and sugar granules he leaves on my pristine bench!
the tourists can be good value too. mostly they're older australians, making the most of retirement by buying a campervan or joining a 4wd tour. they're often happily surprised to see the coffee machine, and they like to paw over the selection of tea towels and stubby holders while i make their cappuccinos. i had a nice customer moment last week, a guy who'd come in a couple of days running asked me what the song was that was playing (i play my iPod at work, got very sick of the tamworth country crew). it was jeff buckley singing Hallelujah, and i was more than happy to have a wee rant about the merits of it! i also mentioned that there are good versions by kd lang, sarah blasko and of course mister cohen. my customer was quite excited by that, so i offered to burn them all to a cd for him. so i sent off a Hallelujah Mix cd, including a few more of my favourites of the moment. i hope he likes it!
the absolute best thing that happened today was that my dear friend greg called me for a chat! a very nice surprise, thanks greg. i promised i'd visit him this year, but i've gone and left it too late as he's heading off again soon! picking season draws to a close. here's his blog by the way. :-) so i guess i'll have to catch up with him later in the year, unless i somehow find myself in taiwan in the next few months, the likelyhood of which is pretty slim.
so that conversation put a smile on my face, i carried on the good cheer with a visit to the nurse in town who i've become friends with in recent weeks. we talk about adventures she's had and adventures i'd like to have. we've also started a sort of dinner club ~ a chance to get together with a few select friends to share good food and wine and conversation. so far we've had one do, and it was lovely. appertisers and wine up at Sunset Lookout, followed by a very nice meal and conversation well into the night. it's these sorts of things that make me feel like being out here is ok after all. so after a session of food-talk and gossiping and coffee drinking with her, i rode home under a sky bisected by vapour trails burning white hot across the afternoon blue.
now here i am, back home and fed on coconut prawn curry, and finally writing a blogpost. it has been too long!
i hope you've enjoyed this insight into my life as it is currently. i'd love to hear from you!
xx e

HELP TWO NiCE GiRLS OUT?

2008-04-02T13:53:00.001+11:00

Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain

friends of mine are getting married in a couple of months, and sent me this message:

"anyway - wondered if you know of any amazingly wonderful gay AND vegan AND eco friendly places we could go on honeymoon?? anywhere in the world.... we're flexible!! thought you being the travelling type might have a few grand ideas..."

being as that i'm not nearly as well travelled as they think and i wish, nothing is springing to mind.
any ideas appreciated!

x

ps. yes, i've been painting.

2008-04-01T12:36:00.003+11:00

today is ONE WHOLE YEAR since i moved to australia.
it seems far longer, of course. a lot has happened in that time!
christchurch -> melbourne -> tibooburra.

[--> ?]

in other news, i squashed a lizard.

MELBOURNE: THE PRO LiST

2008-03-30T09:09:00.002+11:00

my big brother is moving to melbourne.
one of my best mates from home (hi, nik) moved there a few weeks back.
i already have lots of friends there.
people might visit me there.
small block (cafe) is there.
ceres environment park is there.
artisan books is there.
kent street is there.

2008-03-28T22:54:00.001+11:00

waka claypan
Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain

i was quite funny, a few years back.
i've been wasting time reading the archives again. another effective way of escaping the here and now!
as is always the case (there must be a law about it) as soon as i start seriously thinking about leaving, my current location seems to become more attractive. good people, fun conversation and friendly ribbing. a sense of community, a sense of being an accepted part of the 'family'. it's a lot to give up! how do i do it?

COOLiNG

2008-03-27T08:59:00.003+11:00

i woke up cold this morning, for the first time in months! the season is changing, just in the last few days there's been a chill in the air at night. it's 15deg now, as opposed to the 28+ i've become accustomed to at this time of day. suddenly our little concrete floored house doesn't seem quite so cosy.

a question:

if i wasn't living here, where would i be? in tasmania for a few months with petrina? back to melbourne for a cold winter? chch for a colder one? the UK to see c&s get married?

i need to refuel on the things that make me smile.

i'm going to whinge for a bit now. close your eyes if you don't want to see it.
work. it's shit. i cook boring unhealthy food for people who expect no better, and the rest of the time i clean. i hate cleaning! i hate it even more when it's barely necessary, but serves as a time-filler.
i don't get paid enough, and the money i do earn often doesn't turn up in my account for lengthy periods of time. it shouldn't become my problem that my boss is broke and disorganised, right? don't even get me started on her time in lieu system.
i am tempted to find other work, but at the same time i am hesitant to do that as i don't really want to be here for long. but at this rate, i'm not saving much money. what to do?

there are so many things i avoid thinking about, or writing about these days. i have my head in the sand. i don't want to face the reality of my messed up situation. i don't want to be with v, but i don't want to be without her.

*
i'm going to try to write here more often.

i HEART NZ

2008-03-25T21:23:00.001+11:00

w00t!

2008-03-11T16:10:00.000+11:00

Silverbeet and cheese pie anyone ? I would rather be pretty much anywhere but here today. I need a plan, some goal to aim for. Suggestions welcomed. Xxx

2008-02-29T00:19:00.000+11:00

Chilling out at home, enjoying time on my own, and making slide shows of my holiday photos. Do I HAVE to go to work tomorrow? I'm dreaming of a roadtrip, new horizons and faces and flavours. The first step is a bit of budgeting... Reality bites eh. ;-) so what have you been up to lately? Xxx

YOU COULD FRY AN EGG ON THAT!

2008-02-22T15:08:00.002+11:00

my online weather gadget tells me that it was 43 degrees of the celcius variety an hour ago. which is 109 farenheit.
if i had an egg i could fry it on my forehead. now *there's* a thought.
i'm going out to a station (ie. aussie version of a farm) for a couple of days, i think i'm likely to melt. it will be a true outback experience!
wish me luck.

ps. i saw a herd of semi-wild horses on my way to work this morning, they took my breath away. they were just a few metres from me as i rode my bike through the cool and quiet of pre-sunrise.

2008-02-21T15:42:00.000+11:00

i've discovered iMovie!
but am i brave enough to post a video of myself on here?
probably not.
(and anyway, i'm not sure how i'd get the movie from the mac to the pc... um... *brain clench*)

Just another day at the office

2008-02-18T13:51:00.000+11:00

Back to work, back to the realities of desert life. Things to be thankful for: a new ipod-to-stereo cable, walm days, a great asian cookbook for my birthday, and friends who make me smile.

ADELAIDING

2008-02-13T13:44:00.003+11:00

i'm in adelaide for the day, on my way back to tib.
it's been a good holiday, lots of coffees and friends in christchurch, then a wonderful couple of days with lisy and family in feilding (ruby just gets more and more beautiful! i am so smitten on her cute 2 year old self), followed by a BRILLIANT time in melbourne. even a nasty head cold couldn't stop me having a truly great time. seeing friends was the highlight of course, and i came to the realisation that i could easily live there again.

so i find myself in a bit of a quandry!
back to tib tomorrow. who knows what that'll be like. i am really looking forward to seeing the girl and the friends, but a big part of me wishes that i could just pack up and move back to melbourne.

*sigh*

in other news, i just picked out a book for The Softcovers, a bookclub i'm a member of on facebook (you're welcome to join, dear readers). i chose The River Baptists, it's Belinda Castles' first novel and won the vogel literature award. looking forward to getting stuck into that!
i'm also reading Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (of Poisonwood Bible fame), it's the story of her family's year of seasonal/local eating. how inspiring!
admittedly they made a point of moving away from the desert before embarking on that adventure.

right, must be time to go wander some more streets. adelaide is such an odd city, unexpectedly quiet and slow! nice wide streets and lots of trees, i can see why it's often compared to christchurch. sadly for me the cafe scene is uninspiring! but the book shops abound, so i'm not entirely disenchanted.

oh! before i go! overheard on the street this morning:

"just cover your arse and lie down! give it to john and he'll.."
(the guy was walking too fast for me to catch the rest, but how weird is that! haha)

2008-02-12T01:24:00.000+11:00

2008-01-29T13:27:00.001+11:00

Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain

lunch with my family is a civilized affair.

the whole family gig is a little overwhelming, so i've escaped to my beach house (thank s nik!).

2008-01-23T11:16:00.000+11:00

i'm going home to the land of the long white cloud tonight.
i'm going to see my mum and my dad and i'm going to be cold and wear a big jacket. then tomorrow i'm going to drink coffee at my old local, and visit people. this is all very exciting.
i've enjoyed being in sydney, for the coffees and the bookshops and the frangipani and the jeffy and the sas and the tim. the city itself is no longer my friend. this is ok.

2008-01-20T14:02:00.001+11:00

hello

i am having a very nice birthday, in sydney. starting with a SOY LATTE (!!!) and eggs benedict at a beautiful cafe in glebe with fishboy and sas. i'm loving being back in the city!
might go and see the golden compass later. the only other plan i have for the day is to buy a book.
mmm, bookshopping.

xxx

Happy new year !

2008-01-01T03:25:00.000+11:00

Wishing you all the love and happiness you deserve, my gorgeous friends. Hope your start to 2008 was as breathtaking as mine. Xxx

2007-12-30T14:07:00.001+11:00

hello everyone

i hope you're enjoying all this chrissy and new years madness.

xxx

2007-12-16T10:03:00.001+11:00

well i've finally managed to book flights, i'm going home for a couple of weeks in jan-feb.

here's my dates, would love to see any and all of you...

sydney 21-23 jan

christchurch 23 jan - 5/6 feb

melbourne 8-12 feb

and a couple of other stops along the way, but i won't bother with those details!
life in tibooburra is fine. hot and muggy, and most of my friends have disappeared for christmas/new year. oh well, still plenty of people to keep me entertained.
x e

2007-12-04T18:09:00.000+11:00

a good day in my tiny slice of paradise.
i got up bright and early, feeling refreshed by sleep for the first time in a few days, and pottered around for a bit before throwing together a batch of yummy muesli. a bowl of which i had outside with a cup of strong coffee and a good book.
then on to more wonderfully domestic activities such as dishes and laundry and grass-cutting (with scissors! our lawn is still young...) and weeding and dog feeding.
i'm enjoying a few days to myself, as vic is away on a job. i think this break is just what i've been needing. the frustrations of co-habitation have been getting me down of late.
so a contented sigh, and a smile, for this lovely day.
now off to prepare a potato salad for dinner, i'm going to chuck in a dollop of the beautiful herb paste i made the other day, and it'll be super!

2007-11-26T20:59:00.000+11:00

Taking it easy, with a couple of days off ahead of me. Come join me for a glass of something cool. X

A DOROTHY MOMENT

2007-11-11T13:36:00.000+11:00

it struck me yesterday that i am a long way from home.
i don't mean physically, rather that i have drifted a long way from
the things which make me who i am. who i want to be.
i'm not sure if that makes much sense. does it?

i am thinking on ways to rectify it.